RIM PlayBook

The Android App Player for the BlackBerry PlayBook is a big part of its future. Being able to access many of the 250,000 Android apps available was a large selling point for the PlayBook. It appears you lucky PlayBook owners can get your hands on the App Player early because a few prying eyes over at N4BB found a pre-release version of the app emulator -- good news indeed!

RIM has announced that yesterday some update plug-ins for the BlackBerry PlayBook landed from Adobe. The plug-ins are for Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 and Adobe AIR 2.7. The updates allow apps to work across multiple devices and make it easier for devs to build apps that will run on all sorts of devices. AIR 2.7 supports lets devs access all that Air has to offer with support for Flex and ActionScript.

In a press release this morning, RIM (Research In Motion) announced it will be releasing the PlayBook to 16 new markets. Some of those markets include the UK, Columbia, Italy, and Spain. The full list of countries can be seen on the press release. Up until now, the PlayBook has been limited to sales in North America, and after getting roasted by reviewers we are a little surprised to see the international release so soon.

BlackBerry PlayBook owners can now update their Tablet OS to v1.0.5. This free over-the-air update was announced by RIM yesterday, and is the second update to BlackBerry’s new Tablet OS. The update included some needed features like the ability to charge your PlayBook while the device is powered down. The new features look like a good addition to the PlayBook, but this update does not include all the updates and fixes we would have liked to see.

RIM has issued an official statement saying that it has determined that one thousand BlackBerry PlayBook tablets, the 16GB model shipped with an OS build that resulted on the devices being unable to properly load software on initial set-up. This is another hiccup in the somewhat rocky launch of the PlayBook (review here), calling into question the confident tagline RIM is using: "Amateur hour is over." More on this story after the cut.

This morning my friend Robert Evans over at i4u got his grubby hands on one of BlackBerry's Playbooks. It showed up today and for some strange reason he decided to actually read the EULA instead of ignoring those walls of legalese like everyone normally does. I don't know why he decided to take road less traveled and eschew the phrase, "too long, didn't read" today. But because of his strange life choices he found a few interesting and amusing points.

If you are anxious to see the BlackBerry PlayBook, you can get a little preview from a leaked guide for retail salespeople. The guide is quite thorough, and includes information about everything from hardware features to usability to accessories. It also reveals (not surprisingly) that RIM is positioning the tab for consumers, not just its business users. See the guide and read more after the cut.

It appears that some leaky ladies or gentlemen have stepped up to Engadget and shared with them some booty with a double "B" attached. In the images you see below, you'll see both a tiny display showing the BlackBerry PlayBook in a Future Shop in Canada with a very incorrect header (Motorola XOOM) and a few details on multitasking. This ad notes "it's what's on the inside that counts," making us feel like it might have gotten dropped as a child. On the other hand, we WOULD like to get our hands on this sassy little number, so we're grateful for any updates on when it'll actually be in our claws for tapping.

Well would you take a look at that! What we've got here is nothing less than a full roadmap of the more important software updates planned by RIM for their BlackBerry platform. Inside you'll see several versions of Facebook, Social Feeds, Flickr, Twitter, and even the next big fat version of BlackBerry OS: QNX, more than likely OS 7.0! In addition to the roadmap you see directly below this paragraph, we've got a few more one-sheets including a "BlackBerry News," one for Ticketmaster v2.0, and another for Social Feeds. All of these items come courtesy of our friends at n4bb.